Johannes Schwarz has been working as a solo bassoonist in the Ensemble Modern since 2003, collaborating with the most innovative composers and artists of today. As a soloist and chamber musician, he covers an extremely broad artistic spectrum: contemporary solo and ensemble works, classical and baroque music on original instruments through to heavy metal recordings, works developed especially for him with the use of live electronics through to free improvisation, including with amplified tuba. In solo evenings with electronics and solo music theater productions, he likes to bring these areas together again, such as in his music performance "UNA SOLO" with the dramaturge duo Glogowski/Hoesch 2018/19 at various festivals, or in solo performances "Blow the Mausoleum" in Dessau 2023. He is a sought-after guest in renowned orchestras (WDR, HR, BR), Oslo-Sinfonietta, big bands (WDR, HR, Vienna), free improvisation ensembles and of course various chamber music formations, such as the cross-genre band "States of play" by renowned jazz bassist Sebastian Grams.

From 2013 to 2018, he was artistic director of the master's degree program "International Ensemble Modern Academy". Between 2008 and 2022 he has organized the international chamber music course for the Klangspuren Festival (Innsbruck) in collaboration with the "composers in residence" such as George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin, Wolfgang Rihm, Beat Furrer, Heinz Holliger, Hans Zender, Sofia Gubaidulina, Rebecca Saunders, Enno Poppe and many more. He is currently a lecturer for contemporary chamber music and bassoon playing at the Frankfurt and Stuttgart music academies, regularly gives workshops at universities and teaches at festivals in Lucerne and Darmstadt.

In 2018, in collaboration with the Aventis Foundation "experimente#digital", he created the most comprehensive digital sound collection for bassoon to date ( www.soundlibrary.online ), which is now used internationally and has been used in numerous new compositions. His work can be heard on numerous solo CDs: 2025 "contemporary bassoons" (bassoon duets), 2022 "kurzes leben 1.0" (Orlando-records), 2020 "soundspaces", 2010 "PIU", 2003 "Duettissimo", 2000 "Tre venti", 1999 "Fagott....Solo".

Johannes Schwarz lives with his family in Frankfurt, from where he often commutes to the Swabian Alb, where he sometimes leads his brass band with earthy polka music. At the start of the 2025 summer semester, he will take over the deputy professorship for contemporary chamber music.